TRAYVON MARTIN: Judge Recuses Herself from Case

The judge who was set to preside over the trial of George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin has stepped aside.

Jessica Reckseidler’s recusal from the trial comes after Mark O’Mara, Zimmerman’s attorney, suggested that her husband’s job as a partner to Mark NeJame, a CNN legal analyst covering the trial, represented a conflict of interest.

NeJame was initially contacted by Zimmerman’s family to represent him, but NeJame suggested O’Mara.

The judge who would have been next in line to handle the Zimmerman case after Jessica Reckseidler could not take on the case because he had previously worked with O’Mara, Zimmerman’s attorney.

Zimmerman is facing second-degree murder charges in the killing of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed 17-year-old whom he shot on February 26 in Sanford, Fla. after an altercation. Zimmerman was not initially arrested or charged in the shooting. After weeks of public outcry calling for a reinvestigation of the case, Zimmerman was arrested and charged on April 11.

The case has become a flashpoint in the national conversations around gun laws and racial profiling.

Zimmerman was supposed to appear at a hearing this week to request to be released on bail, but that will likely be delayed. Last week, O’Mara asked for the records in the case to be sealed, and several news organizations have sued for the release of records in the case.